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The Used is suddenly my favorite band, quite possibly of all time... I just hope that more people will get past the fact that their band name starts with the word 'the', and will actually give their entire album a good thorough listening to... Normally I'd take this time to say that I can't wait until they release another album, but honestly, I can wait... This is one of those VERY few CD's that I think I'll ever get, that I'll be able to listen to until well into next year, without getting sick of these guys... It takes a certain kind of person to be able to appreciate "The Used", but damn it... I wish there were more people out there, like that kind of person... Because I would love to see this band spawn a genre all of it's own...
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With tracks as diverse as "On My Own", "Buried Myself Alive", "Blue & Yellow", and "Say Days Ago"... This band's writing style is unique, and incredibly broad in scope & range... They can write ballads with the best bands out there, and they can also slam some shit up your ass that is as heavy as anything out today, while still keeping an intense display of melody & orchestration within their band... One thing that I love about this band is that their songs very rarely last longer than 3 and a half minutes, yet they have just as many changes as any other band that is signed today, if not more... Their music is dramatic, emotional, intense, diverse & overall just "really fucking good"...
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Even though everyone that I spend any time with would take offense to this, but in my opinion "The Used" is kind of like a modern day "Faith No More"... Mixing styles from all sorts of different genres, while at the same time keeping their music as up-to-date as anybody alive today... This CD is worth buying no matter who you are... Just ignore the first half of their name "The", and you'll be good to go... They sound NOTHING LIKE "The White Stripes" or "The Vines" or any of those bands... I can't stand any of them... but "The Used", is the best band around... period.
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Everything sounds good, all of the instruments come through nicely, and you can hear the vocal harmonies mixed perfectly... I like the overall sound of this CD, and I think it captures the bands personality well, and portrays their music fairly... I'm not a huge fan of concerts, because I don't like being packed into a big tub of people, without any space to move or breath, but I think I'd definately go to see The Used if they'd come back near my town... The only thing that sucks, is I don't know anyone else that is open minded enough to listen to his album all the way through without passing judgement from preconceived negative opinions towards the band's name, and somewhat pop/punk sound... They don't sound like a pop/punk band to me at all after listening to the album, but I'm just sad that most people won't give them the chance to show off everything they do... Oh well, at least I got my copy of their CD, and that's all that matters to me... I'll be listening to this one for a long time...
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Fuck yeah... I'm all about the little extras, and it just so happens that they included a music video to their song "A Box Full Of Sharp Objects", as well as a little Studio video thing, where it shows them hanging out for a few minutes in the studio while recording the album... It's not a real long video, but it's long enough for me to mention it, and say that these guys are pretty fucking entertaining, not only to listen to, but to watch also... Funny, goofy, retards... With well written, good solid, heart felt jams... Buy this fucking album...
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I've said it before, and here we are again... I generally feel like $1 per song is a good price to pay for a CD... But god damn this is a great album... If I would have known what to expect, I would have happily paid $20 for this bad mother fucker... Very seldom will I buy an album for more than $12 or $13... But fuck it, I'd spend $20 on this one... (And it only cost me $10!!!) All that I can say, is that it was the best $10 I've ever invested in a CD, and I don't see myself thinking differently any time soon... If you're just talking about overall quality of the material on the album though, then I think it's definately one of those great CD's, worth a good solid $16 or so... Almost like a greatest hits album to me, and I've never even heard any of these songs before today... (Other than "The Taste of Ink" and "Buried Myself Alive") But shit... I am completely surprised... I bought this album with high hopes, and got blown the fuck away after listening to it twice through... (All the way through, never skipping a song...) Like I said in the beginning though, it takes a certain kind of person to appreciate this stuff, but I just don't understand why there aren't more people that are like that person... I know I am definately one of them...